Bottle-washing machine



April 28, 1931. w J KANTOR 1,802,722

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE Filed July 28, 1924 2 Sheets-sheaf. 1

Patented Apr. 28, 1931 UNITED stares PATENT oFFicE JAMES KANTOR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LIQUID CARBONIC' CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINE Application filed July 28, 1924. Serial No. 728,570.

This invention relates to bottle washing machines and is an improvement upon the invention covered by the United States Patent No. 1,213,307, granted January 23, 1917,

in which there is disclosed a machine in which the bottles or the like to be washed are carried by an endless conveyor through a soaking tank in which the bottles while in an upright position are filled with a soaking 1 solution, after which the bottles are inverted and sprayed with clean water while located above an auxiliary tank mounted over the tank containing the soaking solution. The

principal object of the invention is to provide improved means for driving the bottle conveyor with a step-by-step movement. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will be set forth more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment is illustrated. In the drawings Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a 25 bottle washing machine embodying the present invention, part thereof being shown in vertical section; and Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the bottle washer of Fig. 1.

As illustrated in the drawings, the structure illustrated comprises a relatively long and narrow tank 15 which is adapted to contain a soaking solution 16, preferably caustic soda. The bottles 17 which are to be washed 35 are adapted to be carried through the soaking solution 16 by means of a chain conveyor 18 of endless form which is mounted on sprocket gears 19 secured to the shafts 20 and 21 which are journaled in suitable bearings located in 40 the side walls of the tank 15. The projecting end of the shaft 20 has a ratchet wheel 22 secured thereon and adapted to be engaged by a pawl 23 which is pivoted on an arm 24 ro- A tatably mounted on the shaft 20 between the ratchet wheel 22 and the adjacent side wall of the tank 15. The arm 24 is reciprocated to cause an intermittent motion of the shaft 20 by means of a connecting rod 25 which extends between the outer end of the arm 24 and a crank arm 26 fixed on the shaft 27 of a speed-change device 28 driven by an electric motor 29. Both the speed-change device 28 and the motor29 are preferably mounted on top of a housing 30 which forms the spraying chamber in which the bottles are sprayed as they enter the machine. The continuous rotation of the crank arm 26 is adapted to impart a reciprocating motion to the arm 24 due to the construction of the connecting rod 25 which permits a predetermined amount of lost-motion. This connecting rod comprises a rod 31 threadedly engaging a block 32 pivoted to the crank arm 26 and secured in ad justed position with respect thereto by means of a nut 33. The rod 31 carries at its other end a head or piston 34 which slides in a sleeve or cylinder 35. This cylinder is provided withsuitable, heads. 36, the lower one of which is adjustably connectedby a'threaded member 37 and a nut 38 to the block 39 which is secured to the outer end of the arm 24. As the crank arm 26 moves in the direction of the arrow, the rod 31 at first slides in the head 36 atthe upper end of the cylinder until the piston 34 engages the head 36, whereupon the continued motion of the rod 31 due to the movement of the crank arm 26 causes an upward movement of the arm 24 and a corresponding angular movement of the ratchet wheel 22 and the shaft 20. After the crank arm 26 has passed the dead-center position, the arm 24 begins a reverse movement and the pawl 23 slides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 22. This motion continues until the crank arm 24 rests on a bracket 40 which is secured to the side wall of the tank, after which the continued motion of the crank arm 26 causes the piston 34 to move downwardly in the cylinder 35 without effecting any further movement of the arm 24. Then, after the crank arm 26 has passed the dead-center position, the initial upward movement of the portion 31 of the connecting rod takes place without causing any upward movement of the arm 24. In this way the crank arm 24 is caused to rotate the shaft 20 to move the bottle conveyor 18 only at predetermined intervals so that the bottles have a step-by-stcp movement and may be caused to remain stationary for comparatively long intervals and to move quickly during the intervening periods from one position to another. Thus the bottles are automatically allowed toremain at rest for suflicient lengths of time to 5 permit the bottles to be thoroughly cleaned and to be readily removed from the conveyor. The relative lengths of time during which the bottles move and remain stationary may be regulated by adjusting the parts of the connecting rod 25 and by varying the speed of the driving motor.

At the end of the machine opposite the chamber 30, another housing or spraying chamber 45 is provided and the bottles 17 are adapted to be placed in position on the chain 18 and to be removed therefrom in the intermediate space 46 between the two housings 30 and 45. v Although one form of my invention has 20 been shown and described for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in various other forms without departing from the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for intermittently driving the bottle conveyor of a bottle washing machine comprising means including a shaft for driving the conveyor, a ratchet wheel 'fixed on said shaft, an arm 'pivotally mounted adjacent said ratchet wheel, a pawl mounted on said arm to engage said ratchet wheel, a continuously rotating crank arm, a cylinder connected to one of said arms, a piston mounted in said cylinder, a rod connected to said piston and connected to the other of said arms, whereby said crank arm has a predetermined movement without efi'ecting movement of saidfirst-mentioned arm, and means for supporting said first-mentioned arm while said piston is moving loosely in said cylinder.

JAMES KANTOR. 

